Page 5 of Offsides

“That’s a question for Cowboy,” Felicity answered without skipping a beat. “He should be able to give you all the information you need on his arrival.”

Well, fuck…

Theo nodded, feeling more than a little disappointed in the response, even though she wasn’t surprised. Of course the team’s owner would defer commentary like that to her staff. That is what she paid them for. It was just too bad that said staff treated the arrival of this particular player as if the man were Mick Jagger and they had to sneak him in the back door to avoid a riot.

Then again, Beau Blackwood did come with his own baggage and plenty of drama. That was part of what made Theo so eager to cover this team. Expansion teams very rarely got big-name players right out of the gate, but somehow the Rising had pulled it off. Theo knew it was because both Gunnar and Cowboy had been stars on the pitch in their own right and had all the connections needed to pull just the right strings.

“If you don’t mind my saying so,” Felicity continued, “I’m surprised you haven’t talked to Cowboy about that already. I would have thought you used that date you won to try and get the inside scoop.”

The date. The date that Cowboy wouldn’t even acknowledge. How many meeting requests and calendar invites had she sent him trying to get a time and place nailed down? He was avoiding her even more since that night. Good thing she hadn’t actually wanted a real date with him or she might just be hurt by his actions.

Reporter first, woman second…

Felicity was right though. Interviewing him had been her motivation for bidding on him at the auction. Her goal was one-on-one access with one of the most notoriously media-reluctant people in professional sports. Theo knew what she wanted out of that “date,” and it was more than just sitting across from a man who made her insides melt. She wanted to be able to cover the Rising in a way no one else had. Winning that date was supposed to mean that Cowboy had to let her in, at least on some level. But so far, nothing.

“I have asked him, and he won’t give me an answer. At least not past the party line of ‘he’s finishing up in Hamburg.’ As for the date…”

“As for the date…” Felicity repeated.

“He won’t schedule a time to meet with me,” Theo answered bluntly. It was the truth; he wouldn’t. And his boss should be aware of that. Theo knew the auction had been Felicity’s idea and that the Special Olympics team it benefited was something that was close to her heart. Hopefully that meant she would step in and side with Theo. “I’ve sent several requests, but he's never responded.”

“So you haven’t had your date?”

Theo shook her head slowly, hope rising in her that this was going to go where she wanted it to. No, where she needed it to.

“Humph,” Felicity scoffed, her face scrunching. “We can’t be having that.”

Bingo…

Chapter Three

“Make…make…make me want to!” Cowboy crooned, walking into his office, swinging his hips and shrugging his shoulders along to the beat in his head.

“Glitter? Really?” Felicity asked.

Cowboy came to a halt, Gunnar all but crashing into him. His pulse kicked up a notch, dragging his eyes up and down the tall blonde boss lady who was leaning against his desk, her legs stretched out in front of her. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were hard and determined. He knew that look. Something was up.

“Don’t be knocking my girl,” Cowboy replied, choosing to ignore the question of why she was there. “Glitter, Elle Parker…I’d take either version.”

“The fact that you even know that Glitter and Elle Parker are the same person should probably scare me. Your brain is a weird, wild place, isn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” Gunnar muttered, kissing his girlfriend’s cheek before slumping into one of the leather guest chairs.

“So, to what do we owe this visit?” Cowboy asked, walking around Felicity and sitting in his own chair. His pulse was still racing, his mind scrambling to figure out what she could want. They had won Saturday, and the team had a day off from training today, so it was supposed to be a day of paperwork and admin catch-up for him and Gunnar. Monday was also corporate meeting day for Southland Holdings, so usually Felicity was tied up at the headquarters building downtown.

“’Splain me something,” she said, pushing up off the desk and turning to face him, her arms crossed across her chest.

“Anything.”

“Three weeks ago we hosted this amazing event where we raised thousands of dollars to benefit the Special Olympics and announce the 'Rising Unified’ team. The whole community came out and supported us, helping us strengthen our campaign for being Atlanta's favorite team. It was even more of a success than we had anticipated.”

“It was.”

“So then tell me why there is a woman out there who spent seven hundred and fifty dollars to go on a date with my technical director, and she has yet to be taken on a date?” Felicity’s eyes were wide, her mouth pressed into a firm line.

Cowboy swallowed hard. He knew this was coming. He knew that eventually it would get back to her that he was ignoring Theo’s calls and emails trying to schedule what she had rightfully won. And that the reason wouldn’t matter to Felicity. Not that he was entirely sure what the real reason was.

“Because she doesn’t want a date, she wants an interview,” he told her, going with the obvious answer. No one else needed to know just how captivated he was with Theo Kappas—regardless of her occupation.